May 4, 2009
C-USA Championship Central | C-USA Championship Bracket in PDF Format |
ORLANDO, Fla. (UCFAthletics.com) - After winning its Conference USA series with UTEP last weekend, the UCF (27-26, 11-12 C-USA) softball team finished its regular-season league slate with an 11-12 record and earned the No. 5 seed heading into the C-USA Championship presented by Helen of Troy this weekend. The Knights will look to defend their 2008 C-USA Championship title beginning Thursday at 2 p.m. ET against No. 4-seeded Marshall (30-19, 11-10 C-USA) in El Paso, Texas.
Should the Knights defeat the Thundering Herd in the contest on Thursday, they would play No. 1 Tulsa, No. 8 UAB or No. 9 Memphis on Friday at 4 p.m. ET. The championship game of the event is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. ET on Saturday and will air live on CBS College Sports Network.
The Black and Gold won five of its eight C-USA series in 2009 against UAB, Southern Miss, Marshall, Memphis and UTEP, and also split a doubleheader at Houston to place fifth among their league-foes.
The Thundering Herd earned the No. 4 ranking in league standings after posting an 11-10 C-USA mark this season, sweeping a pair of league series against UTEP and Memphis.
When UCF and Marshall last met in mid-April in Orlando, the Knights swept the Thundering Herd in the doubleheader on Saturday, with junior Kristina DeMello (Mead, Wash.) firing a one-hit shutout in the circle for the home team in the nightcap. Despite falling in Sunday's contest, the Black and Gold secured the series win over visiting Marshall.
The Knights are 6-2 all-time in the C-USA Championship after sweeping through the tournament last season with wins over Southern Miss, UTEP and host Houston to claim the championship crown and earn the league's automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament. UCF posted a 3-2 record in the event it hosted at the UCF Softball Complex in 2007, defeating Marshall, Tulsa and East Carolina to make it to the semi-finals.
The Black and Gold will look to defend its C-USA Championship title beginning May 7 when it travels to El Paso, Texas for the 2009 C-USA Championship presented by Helen of Troy. For the latest news on the Knights, log on to www.UCFAthletics.com - the official site for UCF varsity sports. The site, which also contains ticket and Golden Knights Club donor information, is also the home of UCF's new online apparel store. Also visit www.UCFPhotos.com, the exclusive fan source for UCF action sports pictures.
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